


A True Friend

by Perfect_Insanity



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Glenn Rhee - Freeform, Other, daryl dixon - Freeform, friendship fluff, the walking dead - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-28 19:52:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15056567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Perfect_Insanity/pseuds/Perfect_Insanity
Summary: Daryl never likes to show how much he cares. But when his friend gets hurt, he has to put that aside.





	A True Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Could you please write me a Daryl x Glenn where Glenn gets hurt but to keep his badass vibe he pretends he doesn't care by once everyone isn't looking he goes full Mama Daryl and treats Glenn? I've been needing more Darylenn in my life, please and thank you! 

The run was supposed to be easy, wouldn’t even be gone a day. Why had Rick insisted that Daryl take Glenn, Michonne, and Rosita along for backup? Daryl wasn’t in the mood for the group today and he just wanted to go on this run by himself. He still wasn’t thrilled with being here in Alexandria and needed time alone to clear his head. And yet Rick still demanded that he take a group with him.

“You really should let people help you more,” Glenn remarked as he was loading their supplies into the back of the truck, “Nothing wrong with accepting help, Daryl.”

“The fuck are you talkin’ about?” Daryl grumbled. He was sitting in the driver’s seat, his legs swinging outside the car as he was checking to make sure he had enough bolts.

“I know you hate that we’re going with you,” Glenn said, “You’ve been acting pissy all morning. But it’s too dangerous for you to go alone.”

“I go on runs by myself all the damn time,” Daryl argued.

“And if you recall, those runs very rarely end well,” Glenn shot back. He sighed as Daryl swung his legs into the truck, sticking the key into the ignition. Glenn rolled his eyes, “Maybe we just shouldn’t talk.”

“Someone’s grumpy,” Rosita said to Michonne as they loaded the last of their supplies into the truck. The two women climbed into the back of the truck. Their time with Daryl hadn’t been as long as Glenn’s but they were also better at tuning him out when he was in a mood and hadn’t said much to him all morning. But in some ways, Glenn was just as stubborn as Daryl. 

“Come on,” Daryl snapped. He rolled down his window and slapped his hand down on the side of the truck, loud enough to startle Glenn, “We don’t got all day.”

“Yeah, we should really hurry,” Michonne said, “If we wanna make it back here by tonight, we gotta get going.”

Glenn slid into the passenger seat and stared out the window silently as Daryl started driving out of the gate and down the desolate roads. No matter how long they’d seen such emptiness, it still was unsettling. Glenn still wasn’t used to it. He wanted to hear at least a plane fly by or just one car speed past them. Anything was better than this stillness. And Daryl being so quiet and tense wasn’t helping much.

Daryl drove for another two hours and he didn’t speak the entire time. He grunted and cleared his throat a few times and mumbled under his breath every time he looked at his map but otherwise said nothing. Glenn couldn’t imagine what was putting him in such a foul mood besides the idea of being placed with a group against his will. Michonne and Rosita talked quietly amongst themselves but that didn’t make the last two hours go by any faster.

After another hour, Michonne broke the agonizing silence, tapping on the window at a drugstore approaching, “There. That’s the place.”

Daryl pulled into the parking lot, “Everybody stay quiet. Don’t know how many walkers are crawlin’ around out here.”

As Rosita checked to make sure her guns were loaded and she had ammo on hand and Michonne grabbed a backpack, Glenn went with Daryl to look over the parking lot. Glenn headed towards the front doors though they were too dusty and clouded over to get a clear view inside the store.

“Let’s get in there,” Glenn said, “Clear the place.”

Rosita and Michonne joined the boys at the door, bracing themselves. Daryl and Glenn pushed open the sliding doors, the four of them creeping into the store. It was quiet, still. But they knew better than to trust the silence. They’d lower their guard and a horde of walkers would come out of nowhere and devour them all. They couldn’t trust anything.

They all split off into different directions, taking out the few walkers they encountered that were just wandering lazily around the drugstore, waiting for the next meal to come along. Daryl was thankful for even these few moments alone. He grabbed some canned food and some water bottles while he killed walkers. He ventured towards the bathrooms in the back of the store, shooting an arrow at a walker that was sitting on the floor, basically stuck to the wall and unable to reach him. He scoffed in disgust at the rancid odor that came from the walker. Who knows how long it had been in here.

Once the walker was dead and Daryl yanked his arrow out of its skull, there was a loud crash and what sounded like Glenn screaming for help. It sounded like he was in pain but Daryl could barely make it out. He took off running, following the sounds of Glenn shouting to the home and gardening section of the store. A walker had tackled Glenn and they both landed on top of a glass table. Blood was pooling on the linoleum floor but Daryl couldn’t tell if it was the walker’s blood or Glenn’s. The thing must’ve bit him. There was no way Glenn could be bleeding this much unless he’d been bitten. Panic hit Daryl hard as he yanked the walker off Glenn’s body.

“You bit?” Daryl demanded, grabbing Glenn by the arm. Glenn was too lost in his pain to respond immediately. Daryl gave Glenn an abrupt shake, allowing himself to let Glenn see his worry. His guard was down slightly as he repeated himself, “Glenn, look at me! Are you bit?”

“No,” Glenn replied.

“Alright, on your feet,” Daryl said. Glenn nodded, using Daryl as leverage to try and stand up but quickly fell back when he put his weight on his left leg. Daryl frowned, looking over Glenn’s body, “What’s wrong? Your leg broken?”

“No,” he groaned. Daryl looked down at Glenn’s left leg, cringing at the horrendous gash on Glenn’s outer thigh. It was bleeding profusely and Daryl had to act fast. Rosita and Michonne finally arrived to see what the commotion was and rushed to Glenn’s side.

“He can’t walk,” Daryl said, “Lift him up. Take him back to Alexandria. I’ll be right behind you.”

“What?!” Rosita exclaimed, “You’ve gotta come back with us!”

“Let’s just go,” Michonne said, “We don’t have time to argue. Might be a good idea he stays back anyway. We still need supplies.”

Daryl had shoved down his feelings of fear and panic in front of Rosita and Michonne, silently chastising himself for allowing Glenn to see it. Glenn grunted as Michonne and Rosita lifted him up and hurriedly carried him out of the store. They left behind a trail of blood drops, filling Daryl with even more guilt. Maybe he should just forget about the supplies and go with them.

No. No, he had a job to do.

Rosita stayed in the back of the truck with Glenn, taking off her flannel to tie around his leg. It was just as well, it was drenched in his blood anyway and it was starting to soak through onto her skin and the white tank top she was wearing underneath the flannel. Michonne sped down the road as fast as the truck would go. When Rosita got a good look at Glenn’s wound, she was relieved to see that the gash wasn’t too deep. He would still need stitches but they could drive the next two hours without too much worry about losing him.

“Daryl was quick to get us out of there,” Rosita muttered as she pressed down on Glenn’s leg, “You’re bleeding all over the place and all he could focus on was the run.”

“Getting those supplies is important too,” Michonne pointed out, “Glenn’s gonna be fine and that’s all that matters right now.”

Rosita and Michonne hadn’t seen the panic in Daryl’s eyes. Glenn didn’t really see that look on his friend’s face too often. Daryl was usually quick to save you and get you out without questions or comments. Maybe seeing the blood and the walker on top of him just made Daryl’s adrenaline run high. But he wasn’t as annoyed by Daryl as Rosita was. He was just thankful to be heading home to get his wound stitched up. His thigh was throbbing and he felt lightheaded but he was certain he would survive this.

Gathering supplies took up most of the afternoon. Daryl needed that time just to calm himself down. Passing by the shattered table still stained with Glenn’s blood made Daryl’s skin crawl. It made him feel pretty shitty about the way he’d behaved towards him all day long. Despite never admitting it, Glenn was his friend. They’d been elbow deep in shit together since almost the beginning. And he was such a good person but always ended up being the one to get hurt the most. How fucked up was that?

Daryl had to hurry once nighttime was approaching. He was weighed down by the backpack on his back and the duffel bag he carried in each hand and he had to find a car quick. If walkers discovered him, he wouldn’t be able to save himself. He found some first aid that Glenn for sure needed at this point. He didn’t see how bad the wound was. What if it was fatal? Had they lost Glenn on the way back to Alexandria? Goddamn, it was at least a two hour drive back even if they hauled ass. And that was assuming they didn’t run into trouble on the way there. All the horrible thoughts running through Daryl’s mind was giving him anxiety which was making it hard to focus on finding a car.

“Dammit, get it together,” Daryl grumbled to himself. He paused to close his eyes and take a few deep breaths before he completely lost it. It took a while, but he managed to convince himself that everything was fine and he just needed to worry about getting home before moving on to the next step.

After walking around the parking lot for a little while, he finally found a car that had some life left in it and thankfully had enough gas to get him home. Just like earlier that morning, the silence allowed him too much time to think and it brought him back to his thoughts of Glenn’s demise. He kept a look out for a car accident or signs of car theft or murder. He expected to find Glenn as a walker stumbling around. The closer he got to home, the worse his anxiety became. He wasn’t sure if he could hide how nervous he was in front of the group when he got back.

The sun had set completely when Daryl finally got back home. He only had his headlights to light his way in the moonless night but it didn’t slow him down even a little bit. He came to a stop in front of the gate and laid on the horn until the gate slid open way too slowly for his taste.

Rick was standing by the gate when Daryl pulled in and grabbed one of the duffel bags he’d stuffed all the medical supplies and medicines into. Before Daryl could do or say anything, Rick threw his arms around him, “Thank god you’re alright. We thought for sure you were dead.”

“Glenn dead?” Daryl asked abruptly.

Rick shook his head, “Just some stitches. He’s in the infirmary right now if you wanna see him. Might be sleeping though.”

“Just gonna drop this stuff off and be on my way,” Daryl said, jostling the bag of medical supplies. The contents inside shuffled, crinkled, and clanked together as Tara and Abraham started grabbing the other bags Daryl had left in the car. The others were so focused on that, Daryl was able to slip away to the infirmary.

Glenn was fast asleep in the bed, his left leg poking out of the blankets that covered the rest of his body. Even in his sleep, he looked miserable, most likely in some pain and blood had already soaked through his bandage. Daryl dropped the bag on the floor and dug around for some clean bandages and some medicine for the pain. He was down on one knee, so focused on finding what he needed, he didn’t see that Glenn had woken up and was watching him. Glenn sat there patiently waiting for Daryl to notice.

Daryl stood back up with bandages in one hand and a bottle of pills in the other and looked over at Glenn, expecting to have to wake him up but he jumped, startled that he was already awake, “Goddammit, Glenn. Why’d ya just sit there without sayin’ anything?”

Glenn shrugged, “I dunno. Glad to see you’re okay though. What’s that?”

“For the pain,” Daryl replied, grabbed Glenn by the wrist and placing the bottle onto his open palm, “Just take one for now and see if it helps. Pretty strong shit. I’ll get you some water.”

Glenn nodded as Daryl went over to the sink to grab a glass of water, “I never had a chance to thank you for saving me from that walker. Seriously came out of nowhere. I didn’t even realize my leg got cut until you tried to help me up.”

“Thought you were bit,” Daryl said, setting the water down on the nightstand. As Glenn popped a pain pill into his mouth and took a sip of water, Daryl lowered to his knees at the side of the bed, his fingers carefully peeling back the blood soaked bandage. Glenn hissed through his teeth but braced himself so he didn’t move too much. The skin surrounding the stitched up wound was a combination of red and purple and it was raw and angry. But whoever cleaned it and stitched him up did a good job so he just focused on rewrapping the leg.

“So did I,” Glenn said. Daryl gave Glenn a nod as he lifted his leg a little to start wrapping up the leg again. He looked troubled as he worked, like he had something on his mind. Glenn knew better than to point that out or to ask what was wrong even though his curiosity was driving him crazy.

This time, however, Glenn didn’t have to ask. Daryl spoke up, “Listen, I’m sorry I shoved you out so fast today.”

“You didn’t know how bad the wound was,” Glenn said, “Better to act fast like you did. I know you were just freaked out. It’s okay.”

“And uh…” Daryl grunted, gently laying Glenn’s leg back down on the bed, “I uh…I’m sorry I was such an asshole this morning. You didn’t deserve that.”

Glenn smiled. So, Daryl did have feelings after all, “It’s okay.”

Daryl picked the duffel bag up off the floor and set it on the counter as he headed for the door, “I’m gonna let you get some sleep then. I’ll check on ya tomorrow morning.”

“Don’t bother,” Glenn said, “You had a long day too. You should get some rest too.”

Daryl smiled a little. They both knew Daryl would be back in the infirmary at the crack of dawn to change the bandages but neither one of them said it. Daryl just nodded, “You’re a good friend, Glenn.”

This was huge. Granted, Daryl wouldn’t have done or said any of this if someone had been in the room with them and he probably never would but Glenn still knew Daryl’s words were always genuine. Glenn nodded in agreement, “You are too, Daryl.”


End file.
